Portable silo or the like



April 18, 1933. p RUTTEN 1,904,932

PORTABLE SILO OR THE LIKE Filed May 25. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 19 s I 1 Q14 ps ii 19w [men/Z074 Pele? Rwiien .By his Aiiorneys April 18, 1933.

P.RUTTEN PORTABLE SILO OR THE LIKE Filed May 25. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Invenior Peier Euiien' By hisAiZorney's TED Patented Apr- 1 l i PORTA LEsine on 'rnn ILIKE' A iic tionfmeunay 2 5; 1931. -Sonatina;- 539.81g

This invention relates to. portablebuilding structure especially adaptedfor: silos,- cribs, bins, brooders and other buildings of cylindricalshape.

It's an object of my invention to provide a simple, extremelyeconomicaland highly efficient portable silo or buildinggstructure adapted to bequickly and easily set up or dismantled and capable of being rolled upinto compact form for storageor shipment. It is a further object to.provide'a silo or building structure of the "class described whichis.very strong and durable when set up and in which provision is madeforcontraction and expansion'of the material from which constructed.

More specifically it is object to pro}.

videa silo or building structure composed of a series of flexiblesections each comprising a multiplicity. of stavesi or slats and re-.

inforced and connected for fie'xing by suit-T able encircling elementsto forma strong reinforced substantially "rigid structure. v

.Another'object is to provide a silo structure-of the class describedlwherein provision is made for silo doors "and a sectional chuteandwherein the structure including the door sections and doorsarerei'nforced and operatively held bymeans of adjustable encircling.elementsprovided with tension:

ing means such as draw bolts-or turn buckles.

These and other objects the invention will be. morefully set forthin'the following description made in connection with the accompanyingdrawings,

in which like referencecharacters refer to similar parts throughoutthe'several views, and n which: i i

Fig.1 isia front elevation of a three-secs tion silo embodyingmyinvention 7 Fig.2 is a top plan View of the same; Fig. 3 is aperspective; View showing one of the silo sections dismantled and rolledup into a; compact cylindrical 'bundley" Fig. :4 is a fragmentary frontelevation showing the draw bolt or .tensioning means for-secur1ng theends .of the encircl ng w1res;fl-

and advantages of slats.

mmmos I Fig. 0 "is a fragmentary plan View she s then pr r ends a ilbetwe the:

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary:vertical section Fig. .9 is averticallsection 65In the drawings an; em Q d nentji invention in the form of alsiloisillustrate although it. will of course be" apparent that myconstruction is ialso applicable to other 0 i d brooders Thesilozillustrate' desired, attached to theedges of. the upper:

silo section;

cylindrical buildings gsuch as cornjcribs i) H a roof,-'but it; will: ofcoursebe understood that'anyisuitable roof may be utilized if so.

Mystructnre as illustrated ties by thegletters S andlsecured together 1in; vertical end to-end: relation, and rein veral main silosectionsindicatedfas entire}v forcedfand held-substantiallyrigid'bymeans 'of"encircling wires or rods liO} Each ofsaid:

sections ,-S.oompr ises an elongated fleizible strip constructedsomewhat in the mannerb s of flexible snow fencing material andcomprising. a multiplicity of parallel staves or slats 11, each securedby;;mean s. -of staples 12 (see'fFig. 4;) or other suitable attachmentmeans to" the encircling"wiresw lOt Preferably three encircling wires.are utila ized for each' section and as shown" these wires {arecrimpedor tortuously formed; to:

allow for expansion and contraction of: the slats due toweatherconditions, The abut; tinglongitudinal edges-of the slats-11 areprovided with complementary or matched 7 joints permissive of 1flexibility between] the.

used but lflprefer the form" lillustrated in i -wh la ins dsl a e' lefiVarious joint constructions; may be] provided with a longitudinal tendon11a having a rounded projecting edge and wherein the opposite edge ofsaid slat is provided with a mortise orgroove having a relatively wideconverging V-shaped entrance portion 11b and a substantially parallelinner channelllc adapted to loosely fit the projecting edge of thetendon 11a of the adjacent slat. The joints of the staves or slats 11are held in place by means fv portion thereof, which is closed by meansof a detachable door D; A door frame surrounds the door opening and 1ssecured to the external side of door section DS, comprising the mediallydisposed cross slatslet and short vertical slats 15 overhanging the asshown is formed from a series of hori edges of the door opening tocooperate with the overhanging portions of medial slats 14 to form aflange or lip preventing outward displacement of the door. Thedooritself zontal slats secured together by short cross slats 16. Ahorizontal rung or step 17 is rigidly connected to door D and crossslats 16 by suitable means such as bolts 17a and the same bolts maysecure fastening arms or turn cleats 18 whichare adaptetd to be turnedoutwardly engaging the exterior of the short vertical slats 15 of thedoor frame to retain the door against inward displacement@ The top crossslat 14 of each door section is preferably provided *with a U-shaped'ladder rung or step '17 vertically 7 aligned with the firstmentioned step secured to the door.

The longitudinal edges of door sections DS' are matched with the edgesofthe silo sections S and in setting up the section, the flexible stripmade up of staves 11 is arranged vertically and annularly and the endsthereof joined with the longitudinal edges of its door section DS as isclearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4:. The encircling wires 10 have adjustablyconnectable free ends, one of which, as shown, carries a draw -bolt' 10aand the other of which carries an L-shap ed attachment strap. 10b havinga bolt-receiving aperture in the bent outer end thereof. The free'endsand adjustable attachment means above specified are of adequate lengthto extend :across door section DS as shown in Fig. & and the entire silosection may be rigidly clamped together in cylindrical form bytightening the nuts of the draw bolts. 7

.Each of the 'silo'sections' S carries at its upper 'edge a series ofcircumferentially spaced projecting saddles or attachment clips 19 whichare adapted to embrace and and reinforced and held in bowed or U-shapedposition by suitable encircling means, such as the wire cables21.- L-shaped attach ment brackets 22 are secured to the longi tudinaledges of chute sections C and preferably to the inner surfaces thereofand may be rigidly bolted to the door sections DS adjacent thelongitudinal edges thereof. Each of the chute sections C is provided atits upper edge with'an upstanding lip or band 23 adapted to lap beneaththe lower edge of another chute section disposed there-. above,reinforcing the general structure and efficiently securing the chutesections to gether upon the exterior of the silo. The ends of wirecables 21 are made fast to the end slats of the chute section, and theother slats are each connected with the cable for flexing by suitablemeans such as staples.

My portable building structure may be very quickly and easily erected inthe man ner described by first rigidly coupling the body or silosections with thecooperating I door sections DS and adequatelytightening. the draw bolts associated with the encircling wires. Theseveral thenrigid sections may be superimposed upon the other inthemanner shown in Fig. 1, the lower edges of the successive upper sectionsbeing received in the projecting saddles or clips 19 and efficientlyanchored and secured thereby, the weight of said upperv sections beingtransmitted directly uponthe upper edges of the lower sections.

The chute sections C maythcn be successively attached to the structureby means of the angle attachment brackets 22. The first chute section isusually mounted at some distance above the ground line. as for example,upon the third section as shown in Fig. 1.

It will be seen that the cooperation of the encircling members or wires12 with the matched or joined staves 11 provides a Very strong,substantially rigid structure, the joints of which are'secured by theengagement of the tendon. portions 1140 with the inner channels of thecomplementary grooves. N0 lining is therefore required in my silo toprevent seepage of liquids through the Walls. r

The device may be Very quickly dismantled by detaching the draw bolts10a, loosening the encircling wires 10 and removing the several chutesections C and door sections DS. The main sections S may be quicklyrolled into a compact cylindrical bundle for storage or shipment,asshown in Fig. 3, and the bundle may be bound in compact position bymeans of the encircling members 12. The chute sections C may also berolled up into a compact cylindrical bundle after the cables or bands 21are detached and the L-.

ed to be manufactured at extremely low cost:

The staves or slats of the sections can be cheaply prepared by millingmachinery and are flexibly connected together by means of the staples orother attachment elements and the wire encircling members. The crimpedor tortuous construction of the encircling wires adds a resiliencyto thecylindrical sections which permits expansion or swelling of theindividual staves due to weather conditions and which also permits somesmall amount of spaced relation between the longitudinal edges of thestaves. V 7

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, proportions and. arrangement of the parts withoutdeparting. from the scope of my invention, which, generallystated,consists in a device capable of carrying out the objects above setforth, and in the novel parts and combinations of parts disclosed V anddefined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is I 1. In portable building structure of th classdescribed, a plurality of substantially cylindrical sections eachcomprising a multiplicity of vertical staves and flexible encirclingmembers to which said staves are attached, and means associated with atleast one of the annular edges of each section for securing the adjacentsection thereto with edges of said sections in abutment said sectionsforming a contlnuous wall and said sections being capable of beingrolled into compact cylindrical form.

2. In portable building structure of the 7 class described, a pluralityof flexible strip sections each comprising a multiplicity of flexiblyjointed vertical staves, encircling members for each section to whichsaid sections together one above the other, said strip sections beingcapable of being compactly rolled into cylindrical form; I

3. In portable building structure offthe cylindrical sections eachcomprising a flex- 1 class described, a plurality of substantially 5ible strip made up of a multiplicity of flexs ibly jointed verticalstaves and a plurality of encircling members. to which said staves areattached and a relatively narrow'-rectangularrigid panel for each. ofsaidsections with which the endsiof 'said' flexible having loose ends,and means associated members.

strip are joined, said encircling "members sections each comprising? amultiplicity of]? members to which said staves are attached,

. flexibly jointed vertical staves and encircling 8 g the sections ofsaid structure being superimposed one upon the other with their edges ofeach section for embracing and securing the abutting'edge of the nextsuccessive section. a.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

PETER BUTTEN.

/ f 85 11 portable building structure ofthe class described, a pluralityof cylindrical

